[Moving to Canada] Taking Risks & Creating a Life I LOVE!
Hi there!
Have you ever thought about taking a huge risk?
Like maybe leaving a relationship you've been in for a long time because you feel like it no longer serves you? Or moving to a totally new place where you know no one, just because your heart is calling you there? Or creating a brand-new career around something you love doing, but have always avoided it because it seems too far-fetched?
My guess is that you do dream of things like this (especially if you're reading this post).
We all do. It's human nature.
I'm writing today's blog because I realized, "HOLY SHIZ. I am moving to a different country in 3 weeks." immediately followed by, "HOLY SHIZ. How did I learn to take so many risks and make my life a wonderful, exciting adventure instead of playing it safe like I used to?"
How I Learned to Take Risks & Create a Life I'm Obsessed With
There's a huge difference between people who live an average, OK, mediocre, kinda-happy life vs. those who take 100% responsibility as a co-creator of their life and go the extra mile to make it fantastic:
On one hand, the kinda-happy-life person goes to the same job every day, talks to the same people, does the same workouts, eats the same foods. Life is OK, but it's certainly not exceptional. In fact, it becomes routine, mundane and they're often left wondering, "Is this all there is?!"
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who live life to the fullest, they play BIG, they take (calculated) risks, they try new things, and they follow their heart - no matter how crazy it seems.
And after lots of trying --> failing --> getting back up and trying again, I'm happy to say I fall into category #2: RISK TAKA BABY, woo!
If you're interested in living a BIG, amazing, exciting, scream-it-from-the-rooftops life you're completely obsessed with, read on.
If you've been following me for a while, you know I love to take risks. And if you haven't, let me catch you up to speed a bit with some of the biggest, most rewarding risks I've taken recently:
Like the time I quit my steady, 401k, solid income job in Advertising in order to run my personal training/online coaching business full time in September 2015.
Or the time I broke my lease, sold all my stuff and moved to St. Pete for an unpaid internship to become a strength & conditioning coach at one of the best gyms in the world for 3 months (which turned into a year, ha) in January 2016. *This is also where I met the love of my life, which never would have happened if I didn't make this decision. SO many people called me crazy for doing this, but yo girl knew in her heart she had to do it and look where it led me. More on that below :)
Or the time I decided to move across the country for 3 months to a small town in Texas to support my hubby while he goes to the Fire Academy to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter in May 2017.
AND NOW... perhaps the biggest risk of all: moving to a whole new country, getting married to the love of my life, and starting my life in a place where maple syrup runs rampant and the Prime Minister is hotter than my hometown Florida weather (or at least that's how I was sold to move there, hehe).
Now am I saying you need to marry a Canadian, move to a different country, or jump off a cliff to take risks in your life?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
You can make your everyday life extraordinary right now, doing the things you're already doing.
But if you are feeling stuck, uninspired, and constantly questioning, "Is there more to life than this?"... the simple answer to that question is:
AB.SO.FREAKIN.LUTELY, SISTA.
You just have to have the courage to listen to your heart, follow your gut/intuition, and be prepared to be super uncomfortable as the change is happening.
Growth is NOT comfortable. Change IS scary.
That's why so many people stay stuck in the same jobs, same relationships, same things that don't make them happy, year after year after year.
For those people, the risk of changing and being uncomfortable is WAY harder than staying the same.
But in order to truly grow, you have to believe the risk of staying the same is more uncomfortable than the risks you take to change your life.
Do I know what's going to happen when I move to Canada? No.
Have I known what's going to happen when I took ANY of the 'risks' I stated above? No.
Change is always risky. It hurts like hell. And at times, the growth and pain that ensued from my decisions seemed unbearable at times. I can recall many times where I just wanted to run home and cry to my mom while she hugged me and fed me ice cream.
But here's the God-honest truth:
I wouldn't change a thing. The tears, the struggle, the not-knowing-if-I-had-enough-money. The times I felt completely alone and like no one understood me or my decisions.
It was all. freaking. worth. it.
Here's how I know risk is worth it, using real-life examples from my own life:
1. If I didn't leave my advertising job back in 2015 to pursue my own business full-time, I would never have been able to work with as many wonderful, admirable, hard-working women as I do now. I'm BEYOND grateful for the opportunity to do what I love and share my life with you all on a daily basis. This alone has changed my life in a million better ways than I could've imagined, even if it is hard sometimes.
2. If I didn't choose to work an unpaid internship for 3 months and move to a new city, I wouldn't know NEARLY as much as I do today about strength training and coaching people. I wouldn't know what it's like to become resourceful and find ways to make money where money didn't exist. And most importantly, I would've never met Mark - my lovely Canadian best friend and husband. <3
3. I can't wait to write a blog post in a few years as a follow-up to this one, saying, "And if I didn't choose to go to Canada.... [insert awesome thing here] would've never happened."
Truth be told, I don't know how Canada is going to turn out.
I never know when I'm taking the risks.
But for me, sitting around and wondering 'what if' for the rest of my life is WAY more painful than moving to Canada could ever be.
Remember, you can always play 'worst case scenario' when you're trying to make hard, life-changing decisions. Let's look at moving to Canada: Worst case scenario, I end up homeless. Single. Jobless. Broke. Have to move back in with my parents. Recreate a new life. But I've done it before and I can do it again, so there's no one and no way in heck that can stop me now, baby. ;)
And one last side note: every time you take a risk, you build confidence. Part of the reason we're scared to take risks in our life is because we're scared we won't make it through - but the more times you prove to yourself "I've done it before, I can do it again," the easier it becomes to take bigger and bigger risks...
until eventually you wake up every day to a life that satisfies you beyond your wildest imagination. <3
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I hope sharing a bit of my story was inspiring to you in some way - even if it just inspires you to take risks in your everyday life.
Now go out and follow your dreams, babe.
I believe in you.
xo
Julie
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